The Talon Volume 16 Issue 1 October 2017

Sandra Day O’Connor High School

Volume 16. Issue 1. October 2017

25250 N. 35th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85083

thetalonohs.com

Pages 10 & 11 Marching Band: Page 14 PHOTO BY: KATIE CACCAVALE

Football: Page 17 What’s

PHOTO BY: TRAVIS ROBERTSON

Inside

News: Page 2

Opinions: Page 4 Features: Page 5 OC Captured: Pages 8 & 9 Student Corner: Page 13 A & E: Page 14 Sports: Page 17 ART BY KASEY CROSS

News 4

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thetalonohs.com

October 2017

NHS premieres a new study buddy program for students

By AUDREY SERRANO

Features Editor National Honors Society, or NHS, have been prepping immensely for the school year in order to prepare the students to succeed academically for the rest of the school year.

NHS is starting a new program called Study Buddies, where students can meet at the cafeteria once a month and study with friends or

get help. The first event is scheduled for Nov 14, as the initial start date for Oct 17 was cancelled.

“The whole idea of it is to create an environment where students are comfortable,” RJ Javangula, NHS president and senior, said. “In this area, what we’re gonna try doing is trying to create an environment where kids can get tutoring, they can study with their friends, they can hang out, eat food and listen to music; it’s just a coffee-shop type of envi-

ronment, but we’re gonna make it productive and we’re gonna make it academic.”

The inspiration for Study Buddies stemmed from the academic backgrounds of its members, as the club is mainly consisted of students in honors and AP classes.

“When the idea came around, it was March, which is when we’re studying for the AP tests- the practice ones and the real ones,” Javangula said. “Mrs. Knoll stayed after school from 6:00 to 7:30 sometimes and just

gives us help in calculus, so my idea was ‘what if we did this more regularly throughout the year so that AP and honors kids, and just kids in general, have an opportunity to get help throughout the year so they’re not just studying the night before.”

NHS has pitched Study Buddies in the hopes that students can be productive and for the club members to have a good time and find the time to study.

“I know the idea behind it [Study Buddies] was to

create a student union kind of atmosphere so people can study together and work together or just even socialize but around an academic theme,” said Cindy Knoll, NHS adviser. “I would hope that they [the students] would use it to study together. I now study groups are really helpful in a lot of content areas so that students are discussing what they’re learning in class and I think that helps deepen their knowledge.”

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST (Left to Right) Thursday Oct. 12 Seniors Rahul Javangula, Swathi Ramkumar and Amaya Lim gather together in a NHS board meeting in the library where together they plan the NHS meeting for Tuesday Oct. 17.

Students prepare for the PSAT test before SAT

By KENDALL DEAL

Staff Writer OHS students prepared for PSAT testing on October 14. The PSAT gives students an opportunity to practice taking the SAT, which many colleges require. Unlike past years the test will be held on a Saturday. Students also had to sign up and pay for the test on their own.

Some students are not taking the PSAT, such as Zoie Naylor, junior.

“I will be taking a real SAT in November, instead of the PSAT,” Naylor said.

This test hopes to prepare college bound students for the real SAT by giving similar test questions and similar environment to an SAT test.

The test gives a score that is predictor of a real SAT score, while also showing colleges how prepared students are for college level work.

“I think it can show where a someone is at, but you could just take a prep class to get a high score too,” said Jesse Moulin, junior.

PSAT and other standardized testing brings up the debate of whether or not they truly measure a student’s ability and knowledge. The test was offered to both junior and sophomore students, but only juniors are eligible to compete for scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

“I think it really shows the progress you make, like

where you were compared to now,” said Nupur Rajkaran, junior, who is taking the test this year and has previously taken it.

The main importance for the test is to see where a student needs to make improvements for the real SAT. After receiving a score, students are given a score report that can better help them prepare for college admissions tests.

Students are also encouraged to connect their scores to Khan Academy for personalized SAT prep based on the questions they missed.

“You can study and learn what you didn’t know, which can increase your score on the real SAT,” Rajkaran said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PINTEREST Above is a photo of the PSAT logo with seven black pencils and one yellow pencil.

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Stugo changes schedule of Hoco assembly

By LEXI GASS

News Editor

Every year, Stugo puts on a homecoming assembly, a time when many sports, clubs, teachers, and even students get recognized around the campus. Among the celebrations are performances from the various art departments around the school.

This year, some might have noticed that two performance arts that usually make an appearance were missing: choir and band.

Typically in these assemblies, choir sings the national anthem at the beginning of the event and band comes out and performs some songs from their set. This year, Stugo decided to cut and replace these two events with elements from them, having a single honor choir girl sing the National Anthem and only drum line performing.

Many students that participate in band and choir voiced concern over their absence in the assembly.

“A lot of us were upset because this is what we were looking forward to,” said Jamie Bond, junior and member of the honor choir. “It was the only way that we could represent choir and get noticed throughout the assembly so that people would think that choir is actually great.”

At one point, choir students were on Twitter talking about the issue, and asked Stugo what was going on.

Eventually, the news spread to Stugo kids and they re-

sponded saying that they needed to reduce time. Bond was upset because “that didn’t make sense because someone was still singing it” and that made tensions even higher than they previously were.

In reality, part of the issue was scheduling, but the reason why the full honor choir wasn’t present at the assembly was because Stugo wanted to try something new.

“All that happened was that Stugo wanted to change up the assembly and be different,” said Baylor Gibbs, senior and president of Stugo. “It wasn’t anything about leaving choir and band out at all; we just wanted some-

thing new.”

Though band and choir were the ones that got the attention for being reduced, many of the other aspects of the assembly had to be shortened as well.

“We didn’t just have to cut performing arts out,” Gibbs said. “Even sports didn’t walk out on the floor.

They just got a video and stood up.”

Concerning band, three days before the assembly, students in band were notified that only the drumline would be performing. Many band students were upset because they were not expecting to get taken out of the assembly for what they believed was no reason. Kaelen Wilber, junior, with some help from Lauren Kisicki, junior, went as far as making a petition to get the performing arts back into the assembly.

“There was never any malicious intent towards Stugo [with the petition],” said Kisicki. “We did not mean to attack them. We just wanted our voices to be heard.”

Maddie Oleson, senior and current drum major in the band, made sure to communicate with Stugo to make the situation more clear for everyone.

Many were upset because they feel as if the assembly is their only time to show the school what they’ve been working so hard on.

“We came to an underPHOTO BY CASSIDY MOOREstanding as a band that a lot Vincent DeCesare, sophomore and Johnathan Honeycutt, senior. of the reason why this was

so important to us was because it’s like our only time to perform for the student body,” Kisicki said.

“People were definitely upset because there’s a really strong emotional attachment to that performance.”

Although many people were vocal about being upset, people seem to agree that Stugo wasn’t intentionally attacking the arts; instead PHOTO BY AUDREY SERRANO it was a com- Gabby Kabamba, sophomore, sings National Anthem at assembly. munication issue. be cut. Mr. Mur believes that “I think that the problem all of the anger could have was the lack of communica- been avoided with better tion; the discussion wasn’t communication. there,” said Gabby Ilun“We’re trying to be very ga-Kabamba, sophomore, inclusive, and the way this honor choir member, and the was handled created the isperson who sang that nation- sue,” Mur said. “We want to al anthem at the assembly. accommodate everyone as “We probably should’ve all much as possible.” sat down and talked about it “People got really mad, just to clear the air, because and I totally understand the way it was done kind of that,” Gibbs said. “It’s just made it seem like choir was really unfortunate, the cirthrown out.” cumstances we were given, According to Marc Mur, but I just want people to advisor for Stugo, the change know that it wasn’t any vihad been planned months in cious attack against band or advance, and due to schedul- choir.” ing issues, some things had to

Students get freaky for this spirit week

By LOGAN FRANDSEN

staff writer

It’s that time of the year again! Homecoming week has finally came and gone, and this year the school was getting spooky with spirit week. The theme was “Trick OC Treat”, and offered a boatload of opportunities to dress up and celebrate Halloween early.

Monday’s theme for Spirit Week was “E.T.”, or “out of this world”. Students showed off their space merchandise throughout campus, wearing merchandise from their favorite space-themed movies and rocking intergalactic clothing.

While some people wore full out costumes, others just expressed their appreciation with normal clothes like t-shirts and jeans. Jordan Dallmeier, junior, gets a good feeling from outer space.

“I like space, it makes me feel warm and happy inside,” Dallmeier said.

Tuesday’s theme was “The Addams Family”, or “dress up with your squad”.

People throughout the school matched their best friends and significant others by

dressing up like some of the world’s most iconic duos and characters, whether they be from movies, books, or real life.

Aeden Gillam, junior, dressed up as one of the spirits from Addams Family, along with other cast members of the spring 2016 play.

“I was in the play Addams Family so I just used the white clothes I had for my costume and didn’t wear all the baby powder and face makeup and stuff ” Gillam said.

A few popular characters of the day were Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc., Harry Potter, the minions from Despicable Me and characters like Gomez and Morticia from The Addams Family. By far this was one of the days where students were most active in participating.

Wednesday’s theme was “Ghostbusters”, or dressing up like a crime fighter.

Students around the school sported clothes that reminded them of their favorite types of heros, and obviously showed their love for the movie Ghostbusters.

Some of the more popu-

lar outfit choices of the day were sheriff costumes,and FBI workers, police officers, cowboys and of course, people dressed in full Ghostbusters garb.

Thursday’s theme was titled “Avengers vs Justice League”, and gave students the opportunity to dress up like their favorite superhero or supervillain. From t-shirts to face makeup to full on costumes, there was a huge amount of spirit displayed.

It was for certain one of the most popular days of spirit week for students to dress up, as the homecoming parade was also that day. In between classes you could see someone dressed as Wonder Woman, or just a person in a simple Superman shirt.

Some of the most popular ideas that came to fruition on Avengers vs. Justice League day included Marvel and D.C. characters alike, including the Joker, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America and more.

Friday’s Spirit Week day was simply “class colors”.

Freshman rocked white, sophomores wore green, juniors were wearing orange,

PHOTO BY LOGAN FRANDSEN

(Left to Right) Daniel Wheat, junior, Thackery O’Leary, junior, Paige Doyle, junior, and Riley Williams, junior

and the seniors made up a sea of black.

The variety of outfits, although fairly simple colors, was striking. A great majority of people found whatever clothes they could salvage with that color and wore them to school. However, some people rocked other articles of clothing, such as

tights and tutus. Other accessories O’Connor students wore included necklaces, beads, hats, etc.

With each day being separate and unique, but also united under one theme, this homecoming spirit week was a success for students and staff, trying to have fun and show school spirit.

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October 2017

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ROTC walks for charity across the state

PHOTO BY CHRIS BONIFAZ ROTC stands outside the school grounds celebrating the 70th anniversary of the airforce on September 15th, 2017.

BY CHRIS BONIFAZ on the students, the school, proud and tall in front of the Staff Writer and the community itself. school gate celebrating the Last month on Septem- Air Force’s 70th anniversary ROTC is very influential ber 15th they were standing showing their pride and ded-

ication to the Air Force of which some students hope to join one day.

This was one of many examples of what ROTC has done to support the school and America’s military throughout the years. Lately they have been planning on doing even more for the community.

“We have been planning on going to a huge charity walk called the nami walk” said Parker Mills, sophomore in ROTC. The date of the walk is October 21st located at the Arizona State Capitol grounds.

ROTC is planning on making an appearance to

show their support for the walk. The walk itself is to rally as many people as possible to raise awareness for people with mental illnesses and to reduce the stigma around those illnesses.

The walk will feature a gallery walk containing pictures of the walk from last years walk and events. They show pictures of people walking and pictures of the many sponsors that supported the cause.

Students should see this as an open invitation to come and help out the event. It is a great chance to give back to charity and an amazing boost to the people the charity affects.

OHS brings new renovations to the campus

BY HAYDEN CUNNINGHAM

Editorial Chief

From MTSS to Eagle Hour and a fresh new look in on campus, OHS has made several renovations to help the new year. The school has added artificial grass in the middle of campus, as well as convenient outdoor seating with umbrellas to help give the school a more appealing look to the eye.

These physical changes come as Eagle Hour has been introduced, giving students a place to go after lunch.

The center of our school is the hub of all activity. Ping Pong, Jenga, frisbee and other activities are available for

students while their peers are being helped in the buildings with their work.

Susan Henry, Language Arts teacher, has noticed the renovations after returning to OHS to work here once again after 2 years.

“It really brightens up the school,” said Henry. “I love the astroturf. It makes it feel nicer and more like a college campus.”

The school is attempting to modernize the campus, and is hoping that these renovations do so. Eagle Hour is also proving to be a successful time for students to get any educational help they need. And for those students who are satisfied with their

work, there is a thirty minute time of fun.

“I think Eagle Hour is really cool,” said Joe Baxley, Sophomore. “We have a lot of places to hang out, things to do with your friends, and you can get active.”

The heat has been an issue, however. Especially for those kids who spend this time outside.

“As we move more into summer, it’ll be fine,” Baxley said.

The school’s renovations are a way to help make the educational environment for students. And this campus change brings a fresh, new year to the school.

PHOTO BY HAYDEN CUNNINGHAM The new, renovated lunch tables sit in the center of campus outside the LMC.

Opinions 4

October 2017

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Editorial: Football stars exercise their rights by taking a knee Colin Kaepernick, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, has started an unlikely trend in the traditional national anthem that is the precursor for every sports game. Kaepernick, during the anthem, took a knee, rather than the traditional standing and hand on the heart.

When asked why, Kaepernick stated “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Since then, other players have followed.

Locking arms and kneeling, they have refused to stand for the playing of the national anthem.

President Trump has responded, calling it “disrespectful” to the country, leading more players to kneel as a way of going against the President. After attending a 49ers vs Colts football game, Vice-President Pence immediately left the stadium after watching the football players kneel during the anthem.

One can argue that it is the

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEITH ALLISON Players on the Washington Redskins NFL team kneel during the National Anthem ceremony before the start of a game. job of the President and the leading to vandalized properTaking a knee during the Vice-President to uphold the ty and fights in the streets. anthem was meant to increase tradition of standing during This protest during the awareness to the domestic the flag. national anthem is peaceful. issue at hand. The media The decision to protest is It is better they protest peace- has widely covered this topunderstandable in light of re- fully rather than violently. ic, showing that the football cent events. Police brutality However the players are on players were successful in and alleged unjustified shoot- company time. When playing bringing attention to themings over President Trump football, they are working. selves. The question now is and President Obama’s ad- Their form of work is enter- how the fans and the team ministrations have caused tainment as well. Although owners will respond to what much division in our country. they are using their large the athletes are doing.

Many movements like Black platform to protest, it may be The argument is not Lives Matters have staged more appropriate if they do it whether or not the players are protests that turn violent, in their personal time. allowed to take a knee. Clear-

ly, they are allowed to exercise their first amendment rights and refuse to stand for the national anthem. Veterans who fought for that flag also fought for the right of citizens to use those first amendment rights.

As Americans, we don’t have a lot of common. But one thing that unites us no matter your ethnicity, race, sexiual orientation, or gender is that we are all American.

And merely standing during the national anthem and simply placing your hand to your heart for one minute is something everyone can do to unite us.

We need people to talk about racism and injustice in our country. It is something that has to be addressed so America can continue to progress and grow, giving equal opportunity to everyone.

Let’s address that at a more appropriate time and place.

Give speeches, debate, and talk it out. But know the difference between the right time and the wrong.

Eagle Hour offers much-needed time and help for students

By LOGAN FRANDSEN

staff writer

Implemented for the first time in early September of this year, Eagle Hour at OHS has experienced its first month of use by students and staff, giving the school an hour-long lunch every Tuesday and Thursday. Based on the benefits it has given to students, regardless if they are struggling or just wanting some relaxation time, Eagle Hour has proven to be a success so far.

A major highlight of the new Eagle Hour is the extra half hour it adds onto the normal lunch time, creating an hour long lunch period.

This is great for students that are looking to have a little

more time to eat, study, or just relax before finishing out the day. The more well-prepared and relaxed students are, the more likelihood they have of paying attention and feeling less stressed.

The only downsides that have truly resulted from this extended lunch are the overcrowding of some tables, both outside and inside, as well as the enlargement of lunch lines that are trying to handle 2500 students at a time instead of 1200. However, these sacrifices are something that are willingly made by some students to have this extended hour to eat and destress.

For students who are struggling with a class can also get academic help during

THE TALON The Talon is published as a forum for student opinion at Sandra Day O’Connor High School: part of the Deer Valley Unified School District.

Letters to the editor must be signed and dropped off in Room 508, e-mailed to thetalonohs@gmail.com or mailed. Letters may be edited for content and/or space consideration. Obscene or libelous statements will not be printed. Opinions reflected here are of those of The Talon staff and do not reflect the Deer Valley Unified School District.

this extra half hour, and club members can also meet during Eagle Hour. This extra time provided for school and clubs like Photography Club and NHS gives students yet even more options as to what to do to better themselves academically or in a club. This is a great system compared to the normal 30 minute lunch hour.

For a new concept and new schedule, the facilitation of Eagle Hour has done fairly well. There isn’t a very chaotic transition between students going to and coming from activities or academic intervention. The system of the first half hour going to people in the 200/400/500 buildings, and the second half hour going to the oth-

editor-in-chief:

sports editor:

staff writers:

Ethan Gilchrist

Nikki Hazelett

Katie Diab Katie Caccavale

design chief:

editorial chief:

Cassidy Moore

Hayden Cunningham*

Kasey Cross*

copy chief:

news editor:

Travis Robertson*

Lexi Gass

Chris Bonifaz

adviser:

features editor:

Cindy Garraway

Audrey Serrano*

Logan Frandsen*

arts and entertainment editor:

Emilie Reid

Sadrac Rainey* Kendall Deal

* denotes member of editorial board

er buildings, works well and doesn’t result in a lot of overcrowded masses of people.

One of the most important facets of Eagle Hour to staff was whether students would be helped by this extra time. So far, it has seemed to work. This extra time should help students with their grades, understanding of topics, and ability to keep up with test retakes and makeups from being absent.

Something new that the school has brought in with the testing of Eagle Hour are independent vendors, such as Jamba Juice and Kona Ice. New activities also added were a workout session in the gym, games like cornhole and Jenga in the courtyards, and

a radio station playing music during Eagle Hours. This adds to the experience of OC and is a nice addition for students seeking extra opportunities or a heightened campus culture.

So, does Eagle Hour work? Based on the results it has yielded so far, that answer would be a resounding “yes”.

It has turned into a very positive part of the campus and provides students with a better chance to succeed, which was its goal. Hopefully Eagle Hour continues throughout the year and develops more and more over time to become even better than it is now.

Features 4

Page 6

By TRAVIS ROBERTSON

Copy Chief

Artists across campus strive to tell stories through their work, and leave an impact on a subject that will make it remembered for as long as possible. This year, it just so happens that one OHS artist’s work will be seen by thousands, watch over ASU Sun Devils and leave the legacy of an athletic hero for generations to come.

ASU’s Sun Devil stadium has received a new addition to tower over its football team, that taking the form of a statue of Pat Tillman sculpted by OHS’ own ceramics teacher Jeff Davenport.

Pat Tillman played as linebacker for the Sun Devils where he carried the team to an undefeated season as well as a spot in the Rose Bowl. He was then drafted to the Arizona Cardinals where he played safety and started ten of 16 games his rookie year. Eight months after the September 11th attacks, he turned down a contract to enlist in the U.S army.

Tillman and his brother Kevin took part in the initial invasion of Iraq, and he was then redeployed to Afghan-

istan, where at the time he was reportedly killed from an ambush. However after his burial, the Department of Defense and Congress launched investigations, declaring his death the result of friendly fire.

Davenport said she received this opportunity from a pre-

thetalonohs.com willing to do it and it was a phenomenal project to work on so I said absolutely.”

Davenport started with a 16 inch maquette which took about two months to make, which was then enlarged to a 1.1 life-size sculpture. Davenport says she wanted this sculpture to be particularly

said.

The long process of crafting this sculpture has provided Davenport herself with new insights about who Tillman was, and what he represented as a person, and student.

“I remember seeing Pat Tillman when he was a football player and I didn’t re-

Ceramics teacher sculpts the legacy of a fallen hero PHOTO COURTESY OF ESPN Jeff Davenport’s sculpture of the heroic former player Pat Tillman stands in Sun Devil Stadium watching over the players. vious client she had sculpted important due to the subject ally think much about Pat for and was thrilled to take it. matter.

Tillman other than a foot“I have a client, and I had “I wanted this to be a real- ball hero but since doing this done a sculpture for his fam- ly special sculpture, I wanted project I’ve found out that ily, the Zebulon Pearce Me- to do my very best, not that he’s much more than just a morial in Mesa Arizona,” I don’t do my very best on all football hero. He was really Davenport said. “I did that of them, but each time you good in academics, he was project and it’s now in the do a new piece you learn from just a great all-around person city of Mesa and so my cli- it and so I was hoping that (with) family, friends, he was ent was asked by ASU if he this project would be a phe- just a great person,” Davenwould have an artist create nomenal project, I wanted it port said. a Pat Tillman sculpture and to be better than anything I The public response and he came to ask me if I’d be had ever done,” Davenport appeal of this new statue has

October 2017 spread across social media, where articles about it have received likes stretching into the thousands. Davenport says she was amazed to find out how much this spread and even made her name bigger.

“I think my students were like ‘Mrs. Davenpor t you have 9,000 likes, you’re famous’,” Davenport said. “I thought wow that’s pretty amazing, and I have people contacting me that want to purchase the small maquette so it has kind of put my name out there, it’s just been a great project.”

D ave n p o r t simply hopes with this sculpture that the legacy of Tillman will live on and future generations will remember his story and what he lived and died for.

“I hope that having the sculpture there will be a reminder about him, even students today if you ask them who Pat Tillman is they don’t know,” Davenport said.

“Even if people don’t know who he is or they forget, there’s that little plaque on the front that’s kind of a reminder of who he is and what he stood for.”

Animal protection club makes a loud bark on campus

By LEXI GASS

News Editor

Among the many posters hung up all around campus, many have noticed one that features man’s best friend on it, the poster for the Puppy Blanket drive.

The Puppy Blanket Drive is a charity donation set up by the Animal Protection club, or the APC club, to get blankets to dogs in need. Donations will be going to the Maricopa County Shelter, a kill shelter in the valley.

“The Maricopa county shelter is a kill shelter,” said

Andrea Savu, senior, and one of the presidents of the APC club. “They’re not really good at keeping their animals comfortable during their stay, so we’re going to give a lot of our donations to them so that they can provide blankets for the animals that need them.”

The drive was set up so students and staff could donate blankets to animals in need.

“Any blankets, towels, linens, anything of that sort, we asked that classes donated,” Savu said. “The classes that had the most donations would have a donut party.”

The drive was relatively

successful, bringing in many PHOTO COURTESY OF APC blankets for the animals in Donations boxes filled with various blankets and towels for the Maricopa Country Shelter. need. to be visible in the commu- sure that we hit each class“When you look at the nity,” Mathew said. “Right room because it’s important amount of blankets we got, now on twitter, everyone is that we get as much as we it was pretty successful,” obsessed with animals, so we can so that we can give them said Limya Mathew, senior, were really surprised that to the shelters.” and one of the presidents of there wasn’t a club on camThe APC club will continue the APC club. “There were pus about that, so we decided to help make lives better for so many bags of blankets, it to do something about it.” the as many animals as they couldn’t even fit in my car, The Puppy Blanket drive can for the rest of the year. which is good.” started on September 29, and “We’re going to be doing APC club is a new group ended on Oct. 6., though they campaigns every month taron campus that aims to help are still accepting donations. geting a certain animal group pets and animals in need.

“We’re still collecting dona- that is endangered in the Their goal is to not only help tions, even though it’s tech- world,” Savu said. “That’s local animals, but make a dif- nically already ended,” Savu going to be starting as soon ference in the community. said. “We just want to make as next month.”

“We’re basically just trying

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October 2017

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travels to campus

PHOTO COURTESY OF DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS WIKI

By CASSIDY MOORE

Design Chief

Dungeons and Dragons is an interactive role playing game that has spread across the world as a competitive experience for many players.

It has been gaining popularity as books and tv shows, like Freaks and Geeks or The Simpsons, mention the famous game multiple times.

The game is a form of table-top role playing where players build their own characters and interact with other people in the game.

The raising popularity and intense gameplay has at-

tracted more and more and led to the club being created on campus. The dungeons and dragons club on campus combines new and experienced players together where people play the game every Tuesday after school.

“I joined the day of club rush,” said Karson Knudson, junior.

Knudson was able to pick up the game quickly even though he didn’t know how to play before he joined.

A more experienced player, Sean McCormick, sophomore, is the “dungeon master” of the game occurring on campus. Although he is not

the president of the club, he works specifically in the game to make sure everything runs smoothly “You have to think of D & D like a story, the players are characters in the story and the dungeon master is everyone else,” McCormick said, “they act as the sense of reason and guide the story in a way that makes sense.”

The dungeon master is essential to game play and helping run the club and game.

“Without the dungeon master, characters would be killing everybody and there would be no people who weren’t playing in the game,”

Coding Club its way into OC

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KASEY CROSS

By KASEY CROSS

Staff Writer

A few mouse clicks and typing of keys. You hear the “I’m in”

One of the new clubs this year is the Coding Club. Once a week, it provides an educational and interesting place

people of all levels can code.

Coding Club is dedicated to the language of technology. They meet Thursday in

McCormick said.

Many joined the game due to its past popularity in the 80’s and 90’s.

“My dad used to play the game during high school when it was just gaining popularity,”said Collin Curtis, junior.

The way the game is played and the creativity you have to use is what keeps many players coming back.

“It lets you use your imagination and creativity in a fun and interesting way,” Curtis said.

The members continue the same game through every week.

“It’s really just a massive adventure that goes on every week” McCormick said.

The club meets every week and accepts new players each meeting. If you are interested in learning how to play or just to observe, stop by room 617, bring a piece of paper, your imagination and a sense of adventure.

“For the most part it’s pretty easy to learn and you don’t really need to read any of the book, you really just need to know how to roll a dice,”McCormick said.

the 155 lab during eagle hour.

The first half of eagle hour being for beginners, and the second half for the more experienced who want to progress forward.

Learning how to code is similar to both learning a new language, and a new skill.

And it must be practiced and treated as such, according to sponsor Gail Salameh.

“I want more students exposed to coding. There are good careers in it and it’s just good to know. It’s the language of the future, and of the present.” said Salameh.

Salameh goes on to say how coding is not only an interesting skill to have, it may become necessary in the future.

As the age of computers rise, it might become mandatory for success to have these skills.

“I feel like it is going to be something that is common-

place a few years down the road. It’s something someone living in the 21st century needs to know a least a little bit about,” said Salameh.

The progress the students make in coding Club is visible, as each week they push forward towards a new goal.

The club goers use each week to improve the websites they make and eventually build the skills to make their own game, and so on and so forth.

The club president is Amaya Lim, senior. Lim believes that coding is for everyone.

She also hopes to give an environment will be suited for everyone to come and learn.

“This club, to me, is what I wish I had when I was first learning to code. And I want to help other students have a more community based experience of learning computer science,” said Lim.

Poetry club starts off with a slam

By CASSIDY MOORE

Design Chief

For the first time in OHS history, the campus welcomed a slam poetry club this year. This club gives students a platform to learn and share ideas that are important to them, while also offering another type of self-expression.

Students in Slam Poetry are given a prompt to write about every few weeks, the most recent prompt being ‘Somewhere in America’.

This prompt tries to shed light on different occurrences in America that are often overlooked by popular society. The slam poetry club members’ creations come to life as they demonstrate their passion for the topic while

sharing their work.

The club has shown interest in competitions, but no poetry slams have been confirmed.

“October is usually when we’re getting more information,” said Patricia DeVito, English teacher and sponsor for the club.

Club members have also shown interest in possibly sharing their work at coffee shop open mics.

“They want to perform it, that is where it is different from poetry, it is a performance,” DeVito said.

Self-expression is a pillar of the club, and slam poetry offers a way to creatively funnel emotions while also being able to share them with the

world.

“Not everyone is able to express themselves through music or sports,” said Giovanna Flett, sophomore.

The group not only advocates self expression, but acknowledges the impact their poems can have by giving awareness to different topics.

“It can bring light on issues” also adding “It hits you in the heart,”said Johnathan Wieland, senior.

Slam poetry has a different meaning to each of its members, Flett stated “Slam poetry is about passion”.

Though slam poetry holds a different definition with each of its members, it is an important addition to OHS this year.

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL Students in the slam poetry club brainstorm creative ideas for future projects.

8

October 2017

aptured

Mrs. Aiden Lindenmeir Bretoi

world history teacher

Interviews and photography by Cassidy Moore and Kasey Cross

@OC_CAPTURED

Insert quote here.

“

@OC_CAPTURED

A teaching victory for me was last year in AP World; I was so surprised.

Mrs Ellis had a professional development session during that full day students have off in February and it was on learning stations.

She showed us how to take data on writing and I made separate stations for what my students needed to work on in their writing. It was the best lessons I’ve ever had because I could sit down and call them over to talk to you. I could see the lightbulbs flicking on and that for me was probably my biggest teaching victory of all time and I will definitely use more of it.

“

sophomore

So I was in fourth grade. We were taking a school assessment and I was blowing through it like ‘Oh I know all this, I got this.’ and I was going through and was like ‘I’m gonna take a break’ and I’m leaning back in my chair, and my foot slips of the crossbar and I slide down my chair. And I was like ‘Oh, if I push off the ground i’ll go back up the chair’ but it was one of those chairs that have a hole in the back. So I pushed off the ground and my head went through the hole. It’s dead silent, and I’m trying to get my head out and it’s not coming out. And I have to yell across the room because I’m in the back of the class. “Mr. Kent! I got my head stuck in a chair!” and he walks over and I couldn’t get up, cause it was on my neck, so he had to pick up the legs of the chair and walk me down to the office. And at this point I’m crying. He is just laughing. I walk into the nurse’s office and I sit down and the legs are hitting the wall as I’m trying to move my head, choking myself. The nurse comes in and goes ‘we’re going to have to call the fire department’ and I flip. Out. Because I know if the fire department was called, my mom would be called, and I would be in so much trouble. So I flip the chair around and rip it off my head, and my ears started bleeding. She eventually found out a few weeks later.

“

“

Aiden Bretoi

thetalonohs.com

“

“

Freshman year I thought this school was going to be all cliques and everyone was going to be in sections, popular kids, nerds, athletes but it’s really not like that.

I was also really nervous that I wouldn’t see any of my friends because everyone told me that our friendships wouldn’t last through high school. But I still have all my friends from middle school. I know I’m going to be very nervous going into graduation and for college because it’s a whole different chapter. High school you still have your parents and you’re living at home, but college you’re on your own and you don’t have anyone to run to. I’m kind of worried I might die because I will forget to feed myself. But on the other hand it will be nice to get away from home and have that independence; it’s really a doubleside sword.

“

“ Insert Name

grade lvl

Abbey Naylor insert quote here

senior

9

10 October 2017

thetalonohs.com

October Spirit

Trick

Making a costume

Treat Spirit Week

Costumes

like a cosplayer

1

Cosplay Club dresses up likeHalloweenallyear

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Jordan Dallmeier, club president, teaches the club how to use wigs during the Oct. 4 meeting where new members learn cosplay.

Choose a costume from media you know and love. Make sure it’s an easier character to avoid complex outfits.

•

Follow the Five-Piece Rule. This means focusing on five details from the outfit throughout the process of building.

By ETHAN GILCHRIST

Editor-in-Chief

When Halloween comes around it’s the one time of year that many will suit up in a costume, but for Cosplay Club it’s merely a fantastic opportunity to display their hard work. Even if the October spirit is temporary, in Cosplay Club the spirit of dressing up pushes them forward all year.

Cosplay Club is coming into its third year on campus and has created a veteran team of cosplayers. This team builds ambitious cosplays all year as they meet in Lauren Feliciano’s, adviser and English teacher, room weekly. The leaders of the club use their experiences to improve new members.

“My top four people are very well skilled in different aspects. For example: Kylee’s (Poppen) great at wigs and styling wigs, you have Sydney (Meech) who’s really great at creating patterns and sewing clothing, you have Jordan (Dallmeier) who’s very good in visualizing the character and keeping that personality throughout-she’s very strong with that,” Feliciano said.

Feliciano, who is known for her Disney and regal themed cosplays, has, along with returning members, built the club from a small eight students into a full classroom this year.

“I have seen so many great friendships brought together by just this cosplay, and that’s how cosplay really is supposed to be,” Feliciano said.

She said she has also seen them “grow in leadership and [be] more confident.”

Feliciano’s biggest piece of advice with cosplay after her years of experience is to work with a team. This is the idea cosplay club is built on.

“Never be afraid to ask for help. That’s one thing that I’ve noticed is a lot of cosplay artists think they have to do it all by themselves and it’s all them. From [what] my club has taught me is it’s not really a by yourself thing,” Feliciano said.

The council that leads the club is made up of the four members aforementioned by Feliciano. Jordan Dallmeier, president of Cosplay Club and sophomore, focuses on teaching etiquette and the basics of building cosplay all under an overarching plan.

“My new goal is to get people to basically start their cosplays and have them finished by the end of the year and if they don’t, that’s fine we will still help them with their cosplays after the end of the year,” Dallmeier said.

She finds that sometimes new members get too ambitious with costumes and they have to scale back. Once the year is over, the group takes a trip to a free event called DevCon where they show off their costumes.

Trick OC Treat Homecoming spirit week presented the club with opportunities on campus.

“I really like it because for other spirit weeks I haven’t really been able to do costumes for spirit week and this week it made me feel really good because I was able to use my costumes,” Dallmeier said.

The president noted that Halloween is a key time as they start to teach more and the public is more accepting

of cosplay.

“We usually start to get more in-depth into costumes for Halloween if they want to be a certain thing for Halloween,” Dallmeier said.

Kylee Poppen, vice president and senior, recommends novices ease into cosplay.

“Don’t start making your own costumes at first and try to get help from online. Look at tutorials or if you need help ask friends who are into cosplay,” Poppen said.

Starting with what she calls “casual cosplay” with normal clothes and few accessories is the best starting strategy.

One leader of cosplay club brings a lot of theater experience: Sydney Meech, secretary and sophomore. Her background has allowed her to help with sewing and other details. Meech said she enjoyed the spirit week also.

“I like the casual cosplays because I think they’re really cute and I can tell people put effort into them,” Meech said.

October is already an important month for the club, but for Meech it is a part of her cosplay origins.

“Finding cosplay was like finding October every month of the year, and I love it,” Meech said.

As the last day of October draws near, the leaders of Cosplay Club are more than ready, but for everyone else help is readily available at every club meeting.

“Our door is always open on Wednesdays from 2:303:30 and we try our best to just really and truly accept everybody because we don’t like turning anybody away so yeah they can always come.

It’s just be warned you’ll stay,” Feliciano said.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Gabriella Sap, Abbey Naylor, Emily Allen, Marguerite Hoaglan, Celesse Perla and Mia Perla.

2

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Kenny Jones wears his theater attire.

By CHRIS BONIFAZ

Staff Writer

Old horror is a set collection of slashers and supernatural horror. The most known of them are the slashers because of how popular they were.

The top five most known were “Scream”, “Friday the 13th”, “Halloween,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and “Jaws.” There are many honorable mentions that a lot of people know but the list would be going forever.

New horror compared to old is clear and you can tell the difference as soon as you see it.

Today’s horror relies on random jump scares combined with a very loud noise. Whereas with old horror, it was suspenseful and slow

building.

For example, the movie Jaws used the classic musical score to signal that jaws was going to show up or eat someone and most of the time it was both.

Old horror loved to play with dramatic irony.

It’s that classic feeling of look behind you that got the viewer screaming for the character to turn around and see the killer right there.

Halloween was the biggest contender of this type of suspense.

Halloween was different from other slashers because of how suspenseful it was.

Usually slashers would build up each kill by making the prey fight and run, but eventually getting killed while Halloween would have

Michael Myers creep up on his victims and kill them while they still did not know he was there.

This horror never had to rely on jump scares to scare the audience.

In the case of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre it was like Friday the 13th, but to the extreme. It would be completely outright with how the characters died and they would be chased until they were dead leaving the last girl alive.

Overall, old horror was more suspenseful because people were easily scared when it was the first time they were seeing it.

Nowadays we are used to the horror formula of jump scares and most of them don’t make sense to the movie.

By KASEY CROSS

Staff Writer

The old will always be classic, but there always comes a time to make way for the new.

New horror is controversial. Horror film critics write off most of it because it’s produced for quantity and not quality. While that may be true in some cases, in others, horror is better than ever.

Some recently haven’t had the best feedback.

Movies coming out every year like Oujia, Unfriended, or Happy Death Day, only seem to surface to make money, and not bring original content into the scene.

These movies are usually not interesting, have recycled ideas, or are just plain laughable.

Badly made or over-

used special effects, amateur acting, and questionable writing plague these movies.

On the other hand there are some great horror movies coming out now and again.

The Conjuring, The Babadook, Get Out, Shutter Island, IT. These movies were extremely good and entertaining because they pushed the boundaries of disgusting and terrifying. They showed that your grief can be your monster, the monster can be those you trust, humans can be evil on the inside, not even children are safe and that sometimes they fight things they can’t see.

Nowadays, audiences have become liberal with what can and cannot be shown on screen.

In the past, some iconic scenes we have now would not be tolerated.

The terrifying hypnosis into a comatose state, the shrunken place, in Get Out, the child’s arm being ripped off in IT, the iconic scream of the demon representing grief, the Babadook, the child being dragged by her hair and and thrown around by the wall by seemingly nothing in the Conjuring. There’d be riots if these showed 40 years ago.

Special effects have never been better. The more realistic it looks the more nightmare inducing it’ll be.

As classic as they’ll always be, it’s time for old horror to rest and new horror to haunt your nightmares.

Make sure you can do it

•

Gather background knowledge on the chosen costume.

•

Draw up a plan with a layout for the outfit sketched out. Seek help from experienced cosplayers on campus or online.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Lauren Feliciano costumes as the Evil Queen.

Are classic or modern horror films better? new Old

Love what you’re doing

•

scares onto campus PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Tawney Schlueter, Emma Folz, Jordyn Fischer, Jenessa Rodems and Haley Gagnon.

11

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Kylee Poppen built her cosplay following these steps.

Find The 3 supplies •

Finding the right items can be very difficult.

Be persistent. Avoid expensive items by searching thoroughly.

•

Examples include looking for wigs, make up or accessories. Use Michaels, Goodwill and online stores.

4

Don’t give up

•

Mistakes will happen.

Stay calm and try again.

There are often helpful tutorials online to help recoup mistakes.

•

Stay calm, have fun, and enjoy the finished product!

Get advice from Cosplay Club after school every wednesday in room 526.

12

The Talon

October 2017

thetalonohs.com

PHOTOS BY JOSEPHINE RUSSELL Beautiful pictures of landscapes by Josephine Russell, junior and vice president, define the artistic qualities that photo club wants to promote amongst its members who have much to learn.

Photography club pictures a successful first year ahead important because there it,” Russell said. people carry a camera with members challenged

By EMILIE REID Arts and Entertainment Editor

wasn’t a club where people This addition to the could foster their love for many different clubs on Among the various photography, and I think campus does not come as clubs that have taken cam- a lot of people think that a surprise. Photography pus by storm this year, photography is super hard is becoming exceedingly one club strives to add a but it’s not, anyone can do popular as more and more creative space for up-andcoming student photographers.

The Photography Club, founded by Ashlyn Smith, senior and club president, and Josephine Russell, junior and vice president, has already attracted over 80 students with just one meeting.

With two advisers, Kelly Simon and Cindy Garraway, both knowledgeable with cameras and different types of photography, the club is sure to be a learning ground for each member.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSEPHINE RUSSELL I think this club is This photo by Russell shows the artistic qualities that the club wants to teach.

them everyday in the form of their smart phone.

Photography with more professional and high-tech cameras, however, can be seen as a dying art. Whereas iPhone pictures and photo-editing apps are very popular, you don’t see many people carrying a full size Nikon or Canon camera around during their everyday life.

The idea for the club started last year, with the initial thought that it would be a good way for new and old yearbook members to improve their photography skills.

The club meets once a month during Eagle Hour, and the goal is to have assignments with different themes in order to keep

and showcase their talent, as well as have their works submitted to the district art show.

Smith and Russell plan to have guest speakers, contests, presentations and times outside of school to help their members grow and improve upon their skills and love for photography.

“I just thought that this would be a great thing to add to our campus, and I feel like this is just a good outlet for beginners who are interested in photography and who are eager to learn,” Smith said. With such passionate leaders and big goals and ideas, one can expect great things from this club and its members.

Auto club gives students the drive for success

By CHRIS BONIFAZ

Staff Writer

Like cars? Then auto club may be the club for you.

Auto Club is a club on campus that gives students with interests in cars an outlet to embrace that side of them.

Denis Ohlwiler is the head sponsor of the auto club and wishes more kids were interested. “Auto club is a club for kids who don’t have one,” said Ohlwiler.

“We currently only have five members,” said Ohlwiler.

If students are not able to find a club, they should consider joining auto club because of how low the amount of people are in the club itself.

The club itself was made for the students to have a safe place to hangout and chill.

“We are a very tight knit group because there are so little of us and this club makes us great friends,” said Emily Lu, junior Auto is not just for people who want to connect, it is also for the people who have big interest in cars and everything else about them. They

focus heavily on cars because they did not just want to have a club about sitting around and talking.

“I would say this is a huge club for people who love cars” said Lu. They do a lot with cars but since they only have five members, they haven’t been able to meet much this year.

There would usually be able to throw two car shows a year but because of the number of members they are only going to throw one this year in the spring.

The people in the club have been getting more and

more work w h i c h p u s h e s them farand ther farther away from their duties to the club itself.

T h e car shows themselves are huge events not w i d e l y known by students.

By how big they PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino on display at the O’Connor Auto Club Saturday April 1 annual car show. were people

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST 1967 Ford Mustang Coupe arrives at the start of the April 1 Auto Club car show. would think students would know about this huge event but the only people that come are the people who bring the cars to show off.

What they do is they hold the event is they ask the communities around the school to come and show off their cars for everyone there. They invite teachers and parents alike to come to the shows.

So many amazing entries have been in the show over the years that they have hosted the event.

“One year we had a kid and his dad who brought a car that they made by themselves” said Lu. Every event they have a trophy for the winning car

which is first voted on then awarded at the end of the event. They have never had a problem picking a winner because there is always a clear winner.

While they have a lot of entries they don’t have many actual visitors, which is who the event is for. They want people to come and witness these amazing cars to give the people who bring them the praise they deserve for making a car from scratch or restoring an old car.

In the end, Auto Club is an amazing gateway into the world of cars and it’s up to you if you want to open the gate.

4

Page 13

thetalonohs.com

‘Spooky’ Word Search

October 2017 Word Bank |trick||treat||ghost||ghoul||goblin||black| |orange||purple| |witch||cauldron||claws| |black cat||pumpkin||candy||scare||fangs| |spooky||costumes||bat||vampire| |cobweb||werewolf|

Art by Grace Haskins, senior (Top left) Photos by Alec Chong, senior (left and right)

The Cave By; Nathan Randell, junior A full moon was waning over the horizon to the West, casting faint but eloquent shadows on the ground, painting it with its darkness, restraining all of the light.

It determined how life in the forest unfolded, pulling upon its strings like a loom built for chaos. Where the moonlight collided with the bark and brittle of the leering trees, webs of darkness flooded the brush, with branches large enough to entangle the ignorant and the informed. One could stare at the shadows for hours, deciphering the intricate patterns of nature at its greatest and coming to conclusions of nonsense and nihilism. Like a lizard without legs, they creeped along the dirt of the forest floor, making as much progress as a butcher sawing through bone. The shapes were ever changing. Given enough time, everything imaginable could be written into the sod, with the branches as our schol-

-ars, writing away the days like they had them tucked in their collars.

One might be scared without the shadows of the looming woods, for they would see all of the creatures lurking where the light could not shine before. The only things that were safe were the ever so ominous trees. The wolves were beginning their hunt now, and one could hear them howling in the distance, their cries a symbol of the continuum that is the circle of life.

Bears were preparing for the long dark that followed the chill in the air. Leaves were beginning to curl and digress from their mother, some falling to the cold floor, without energy, without life, discarded like a cigarette butt flicked out the window of a speeding car, no longer competing in the fightfor life, the struggles and tussles.

Silence was a precious commodity. Always there were monsters stepping on

the dead leaves, the remnants of the once full trees, making noises that send shivers down the spines of even the bravest visionaries. Occasionally a crow would pass overhead, making its nefarious call to whoever was listening. Often it would make the fallen leaves rustle about on the crowded ground, a depressing symphony. Below the dead leaves were where the predators were not, and where the prey would squat.

In primitive holes they would sleep, living through a cycle of nightmares, hoping for something as simple as a sunrise, the persistence of memory.

In the center, there was a large hill, with a massive twisted oak tree at its summit. All of its leaves had been taken by the cold winds. The bark was faded to an ashy grey, the gnarled roots tumbled into a bleak cave below it, etched into the hillside like a hatchet wound. Wind frosted over the cave’s face.

Ice crystals could be seen forming in beautiful patterns about the stone walls, and slowly faded into them as the cave descended into darkness.

Horror-scopes Aquarius

You live in the heart of the storm,

Aries

Your impatiecne will cause your confidants to be left behind.

Gemini

You’re pretending to be something you’re not, take off your mask.

Leo

Youll find yourself in the heart of your own den.

Libra

You see election night as the scariest night of the year.

Sagitarius

Your quiver is full, but your bow is broken.

Pisces

You’re a sea monster.

Taurus

You will be kicked out of a shop due to your temper.

Cancer

You will recieve great news about impending wealth and treasure.

Virgo

Your innocence will be ypur downfall in the end.

Scorpio You sting anyone around you.

Capricon

Your knoweledge is your biggest flaw. wisdom hinders.

4

Arts & Entertainment October 2017

thetalonohs.com

Marching band has gone

Mad

By EMILIE REID

Arts and Entertainment Editor

The Eagle Pride Marching Band has fallen down the rabbit hole with this year’s Alice in Wonderland themed show entitled “We’re All Mad Here.”

With student actress Makenzie Fugatt, senior, playing the role of the Red Queen and Maddie Oleson, senior, portraying the role of Alice, the renowned story comes to life on the field.

However, along with a new half-time show comes also comes a new season of competitions and long, frequent practices. Though the season has just started, the band is

constantly improving and working towards completing their set.

Chloe Scott, senior, has been performing in halftime shows for her entire high school career and is the section leader of the low woodwind section.

“My goals for the season are to constantly improve and not just settle for the same thing and to always get better and better, as well as make it to State and Super State,” Scott said.

Along with their promising results at their first few competitions, the halftime show also seems to be a hit with students.

The audience at school foot-

Page 14

for the new season

ball games show their support through cheering and creating a positive energy as band takes the field, showing off their skill and hard work that has made them so successful in the past.

This success seems to be continuing, based on the results from the first two competitions of the season, as Andrew Sheppard, senior and band council member, has witnessed.

“We improved a lot from the first and second, by learning more and practicing the same thing over and over again and getting it all locked in our heads,” Sheppard said.

Color guard has also noticed their growth and suc-

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Makenzie Fugatt, senior, stands in her Red Queen costume during half time. cess so early in the season, as Kristopher Flanagan, tech and senior, reports.

“We’ve really stepped it up from last year. Last year we were alright, but we didn’t really push ourselves to this level and that has to do with the newer people being excited to learn and the great new staff,” Flanagan said.

After coming in third place in their second competition and (update after competition) place in their third competition, the band is sure to continue improving and making their way back to Super State, as they have in previous years.

The last time marching band won Super State was in the 2014-2015 season, with their renowned show “In the Dead of Night.”

This year’s show shares important characteristics with their last most successful show, such as its dark tone and storyline embedded within the music and supported by the characters.

With an already promising start to their competition season, Eagle Pride Marching Band has made its first big steps towards another rewarding and memorable season.

Choir hits a high note with its first performance show, unoriginal or lacking depth compared to one that would be done later in the year. As students tend to improve over time, their show would also improve.

Though that wasn’t true here, as the sound was equally mixed with tonal highs and lows, featuring songs such as “Inscription of Hope”, the most dreary song, to “Taylor the Latte Boy” as its most comedic and lighthearted. “... we have a good selection of songs this time. And I think a lot of our songs this time are gonna be focused on tone quality and pitch, and it’s really working that sort of aspect of choir,” Ahren Boender, junior, said.

They accomplished this completely, tone and pitch

are two key things that are important to any choir student. They lay the foundation for bigger and better Chorus sung their way complex songs and pieces. into the new school year in a “They’ve worked hard for massive way. Their first show the last nine weeks and I feel demonstrated the potential that if they stay focused and of the beginning choir, while practice then they’ll have a showing and highlighting the fabulous performance,” Duadvancements of the concert razo said. and honor choirs.

The structure of the perOn October 12th, 2017, formance was structured in Cindy Durazo, director of such a way in which the most choir, led the premiere choir heavy and thoughtful songs concert for the 2017-18 are displayed first, while the school year. Accompanied lighter more open-ended by pianist, Greg Ramsey, songs came up last. all three tiers of choir, be“We’ve talked about a vaginning, concert, and honor riety of different musical asput on a show that was well pects to convey the message above average, while showing and the emotion we’re trying great potential. to make,” Durazo said.

On the surface it may seem The quality of the the ‘girl like just another opening song’ and ‘guy song’ this year were well above par, and well above anything else demonstrated within the show. They showed off a comedic side of music not regularly seen, known or expected.

Because of its shifting tone and scattered song placement, the first show didn’t really have an identity or theme. But that doesn’t make it worse because it offers the best in each of those categories.

“I would say, singing, and how grand it is, we start off with, We Gather to Sing. And we do a variety of things to PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON make that happen and ... we Students from Beginning Choir perform choreography during their opening song. come together as a team, we

By SADRAC RAINEY

Staff Writer

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Autumn Webb, junior, smiles towards the audience during “Taylor the Latte Boy”. come together as an ensemInterested in movie ble, putting all of our differreviews? Check out ences aside to come together Page 16 for in-depth as one through singing, and I think that’s important,” Dustories on razo said.

This doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any personality to any of the choir students though. Boender is one such person who uses both his voice and his instrumental talent to play for the audience, in the chorus’ final song, I Will Sing “... we end up with I Will Sing. I think the world is a better place when people are singing,” Durazo said.

“It” and

“Kingsman: The Golden Circle”

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

October 2017

15

Star Trek reboot blasts off franchise revival

PHOTO COURTESY OF CBS

Michelle Yeoh as Captain Philippa Georgiou and Sonequa Martin-Green as First Officer Michael Burnham in the series premiere of “Star Trek: Discovery”.

different ship and an entirely different plot.

The show follows the adFor decades, the Star ventures of the USS DisTrek franchise has been covery during the Federainfluencing popular me- tion-Klingon cold war and dia and many fans, both young and old, who have The witty and grown up watching and loving the series, both the sarcastic naoriginal and reboots. ture of the “Star Trek: Discovcharacters, ery” released its first epmixed with the isode on Sep 24 on CBS seriousness of and follows the tales of the plot, adds the USS Discovery and its crew through its journey a comedic through space and time, sense ” as opposed to the USS Enterprise the previous series -Audrey Serrano focused on.

Unlike previous re- introduces a different cast boots,“Discovery” focuses far from the crew many the series on an entirely grew up knowing and addifferent crew, an entirely miring.

By AUDREY SERRANO

Features Editor

“

The plot of season one so far follows protagonist Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, with her role as first officer on the USS Shenzhou for the first two episodes and on the USS Discovery from the third episode and on.

Compared to the Star Trek original series and the reboots, “Discovery” does not follow the journey of Captain Jim Kirk and his memorable crew. Martin-Green’s Burnham, also, does not become captain and maintains her position on the ship as Commander.

Adding on to the Star Trek canon timeline, the time period in which Discovery takes place roughly a decade before the canon timeline of “Star Trek: The Original Series”,

in which iconic characters such as Captain Jim Kirk, played by William Shatner, and Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, were introduced.

“Discovery” also strays from the timeline of the most recent Star Trek reboot.

The 2009 and ongoing J.J. Abrams feature-film adaptations of the series introduced an alternate universe of the Star Trek timeline and added a new twist to Captain Kirk, now played by Chris Pine, Spock, now played by Zachary Quinto, and other memorable characters.

With “Discovery” following the development of a Starfleet first officer rather than a Captain, it puts a whole new perspective to the franchise’s canon. Doing this showed the different dynamics between captain and subordinates and the relation-

ships , both hostile and tactile, between the officers.

It was a risky change, switching over from the usual perspective focus, but it was a good tactic for the franchise to flex the plots and character studies as it delved deeper into the Star Trek universe by showing a side of canon that has never been seen before. Admittedly, it was a bit hard to get into, but the episodes released so far showed good promise for the show.

The witty and sarcastic nature of the characters, mixed with the seriousness of the plot, adds a comedic sense to an otherwise heavily suspenseful show.

Though so far there have only been three episodes released since its debut, there is already potential for character development, certain dynamics between the characters and the ongoing significance of morals during intergalactic war, as shown multiple times before in past Star Trek adaptations.

The show gives extra insight on team dynamics first established by the original series and adds on to the adventure and curiosity of missing plot-points when jumping from timeline to timeline. “Star Trek: Discovery” in turn, has the potential to introduce the franchise to a whole new generation, as the past reboots have done, and to delve more into the Star Trek universe more than the past adaptations have.

Improv steps up for new year at show

By SADRAC RAINEY

Staff Writer

First shows for any performance team can be a scary experience. One big mistake and the audience might not come back for the encore. But with improv’s smash premier Sept. 28th that just wasn’t the case.

Bryce Craig, senior, and acting captain for the team had pretty low expectations, but was blown away by all of the positive feedback their show gained.

“Way better than I thought it would. We had some issues with scheduling giving us only one rehearsal before the show, and I don’t know how advertising went.

I thought there were only going to be five people there, but it was packed. People were laughing the whole time we had people sitting in the back and in the front; it was a fire hazard,” Craig said.

Due to the amazing feedback of the crowd, the team gave an even more enthusiastic approach to their skits.

John Roush, junior, summarizes his experience on stage.

“It was pretty good, everything went really well, we had a great crowd and we all just got up there and had fun,” Roush said.

For improv teamwork means everything, without cohesion all of their skits would fall on deaf ears. Cooperation is vital for the team because it gives them a sense of family, otherwise it wouldn’t be seen. And for Craig, that’s his one goal for the team before graduating.

“I was really only on the improv team my freshmen year; I’ve been leading it every year since then. My favorite part, at this point, has got to be seeing the new kids coming in, and being able to create the experience for them that I got when I first joined,” Craig said.

But Craig isn’t a sole lead, he has help from Lauren Coe, senior and and Denise Sue, advisor, who all make the big picture become real.

“Its me, Lauren Coe and Denise Sue who’s kind of the administrator of all it. But it’s all me and Lauren mostly.

One of us will take the team

and the other will start writing

PHOTO BY SADRAC RAINEY Left to right: Bryce Craig, senior, Aaron Sims, senior, and Patrick McMorrow, senior, stand on the stage and get ready to play the next game. a list of games. It’s the three of er generation. sive at rehearsals. Meaning us,” Craig said. “... Bring the new people their next show on Nov. 9th Since he isn’t going to be in, and show them how much will be an even bigger hit, leading forever, Craig has his fun it can be and just show due to the newer people sights on Roush to be the new them what we do,” Roush having real experience and captain; and it’s because of said. the older ones comfortable their similar interests in how So now with this fact out with the direction of the they want the team to go. Both in the open it gives improv team. value the support of the young- the liberty to be more expres-

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The Talon

October 2017

thetalonohs.com

It (2017) floats high into audience’s hearts Eddie Kaspbrak, Ben Hascom, Mike Hanlon and Beverly Marsh.

One of the stand out qualities of this movie are its characters. The characters are all the same from the original book but they’re shown as more vulnerable and raw than portrayed in the 1990 version. Their interactions with each other are what makes you really understand who they are as individuals as the movie progresses.

Not only are the characters well written and interesting, the actors for these roles were chosen extremely well. Each child brought their own flair to the characters and had great onscreen and off screen chemistry with each other.

All of them have a very large future in acting, as I felt connections with them the moment they were introduced.

The stand out performance of course, was by “Stranger Things” own Finn Wolfhard.

Wolfhard was by far one of the greatest parts of this film as he provided hilariously inappropriate one liners, which were mostly improvisation.

He broke the tension in many serious and quite terrifying scenes that kept a light hearted tone throughout the whole film.

The ages as well were extremely refreshing, as they didn’t hire 20 year olds to play 14 year olds or even the

16 year old bullies of Henry Bowers gang.

But I absolutely cannot skip over the performance of the clown himself, played

by Bill Skarskard. Skarsgård brought a completely different technique to the character than his predecessor, Tim Curry. He acted deranged, insane, had a high-pitched almost diseased like voice and added a special supernatural element even from the beginning when we see him in the very first scene of the film.

After a while however, we see Pennywise so many times that how scary he is begins to decline. His other forms, especially the flute player, were nightmare inducing in their own right, but we saw Pennywise so many time he lost the scariest element of a thriller monster: surprise. Nonetheless, Skarsgård knocked it out of the park every chance he got.

This film is not for the faint of heart. It is incredibly fast paced, with only a handful of non-scary scenes in the entire two hours and fifteen minutes.

Somehow, throughout all these terrifying qualities, the movie is heartwarming in a surprising way. I found myself wanting to watch it again as soon as I left the theater. It wasn’t much because of the horror aspects, but the performance and chemistry

of these teenage actors.

I felt a sense of nostalgia even though I didn’t live through the 80’s. I also felt a strong bond between these characters even though they gave little to no exposition about them or their lives.

Beneath the surface, IT is a heart wrenching and fascinating coming of age story.

Overall, IT is a masterpiece

of the spy genre while also poking fun at its ridiculous clichés. Its sequel, The GoldDISCLAIMER:Kingsman: en Circle, has about half of The Golden Circle is rated what made the first one so R. You must be 17 years or memorable, leaving audiencolder, or accompanied by a es with an overall forgettable guardian in order to view it. experience.

Kingsman: The Golden The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to see Circle starts shortly after the movie illegally or without the first one where Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is a seasoned a guardian.

“Kingsman: the Secret Ser- member of the Kingsman, vice” was an energetic and an underground British spy surprisingly clever movie organization where each of that had fun with the tropes its members represents one of the knights of the round table. A new villain, Poppy (Julianne Moore) and her drug organization, The Golden Circle, cause groundbreaking trouble for the Kingsman forcing them to join forces with their American counterpart, the Statesman, and bring down this organization.

It’s not a wholly original plot, but for this franchise that’s ok, so long as it finds clever ways to subvert spy tropes while also striking a fine balance with fun, ridiculous action scenes. This is The Golden Circle’s biggest problem, as it doesn’t really do anything new or clever for POSTER COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY this franchise or genre and instead just goes straight for FOX

ridiculousness.

This doesn’t tank the movie or make it unwatchable by any means, as there’s plenty of fun to be had with its action set pieces and banter between characters, however one should come to expect a little more being the first one actually had some brains in its script.

This is seen most with the antagonists of the two films, as in the first one Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) was an evil mastermind that showed no remorse for brutally killing millions of people, but was also a pacifist with a squeaky lisping voice who hated the sight of blood.

Making the villain a cowardly pacifist was a brilliant way to satirize typical spy movie villains who are too cartoony in how bloodthirsty they can be, and the juxtaposition of these different traits made for some hilarious scenes.

And what about Poppy in the latest movie? She’s evil.

She’s eccentric. She’s obsessed with the fifties. She turns humans into cheeseburgers. Cool, so what? Is there really anything more to her character other than that she’s weird and goofy? Moore

has a lot of fun and gives a memorable performance, but there’s really nothing clever about her character, she’s just a goofy villain.

While there is fun to be had particularly in the first and last acts, the middle act of this movie is just dull. Harry (Colin Firth) from the first film returns and they handle his character in the most frustratingly uninspired plot line ever regarding his memories and spend too much time on that. Meanwhile Eggsy and a member of the Statesman, Whiskey (Pedro Pascal), take a detour to go to a music festival to find an asset to the Golden Circle.

Too much time is spent at this festival when what they did with the asset could’ve taken two seconds realistically. This sequence culminates with a gag regarding the asset’s private parts, which will surely be talked about for a while, and then the movie moves on.

The action sequences are entertaining in their ridiculousness much like the first film. The way music is used adds a ton of flavor, however much like everything else in the film it just pales in com-

BY KASEY CROSS

Staff Writer

DISCLAIMER: IT is rated R. You must be 17 years or older, or accompanied by a guardian in order to view it.

The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to see the movie illegally or without a guardian.

Stephen King published IT September 1986. It was his 18th novel and the book soon became a horror classic. In 1990 was made into an ABC two-episode mini series, and now IT is back, right on time, 27 years later.

The story takes place in Derry, Maine, where large amounts of children seem to go missing and die every 27 years. No one knows why, and for some mysterious reason, no one notices, and no one investigates.

The movie starts out with the gory death of Georgie Denbrough, in the classic scene with Pennywise trying to convince him to come down into the storm drain after his paper boat floats into it. When Georgie tries to leave with his boat, Pennywise rips the child’s arm off and pulls him into the storm drain, never to be seen again.

Thereafter it introduces our main characters, Bill Denbrough, the older brother of the kidnapped Georgie, Stanley Uris, Richie Tozier,

POSTER COURTESY OF WARNER BROS of a reboot. It was casted amazingly and did a wonderful job explaining the story to first-timers. It provided a fresh and interesting look for long time fans, and was so scary but lovable nonetheless. I’m in love with this movie, and I recommend anyone who has ever been a teenager who seeks adventure to see this fantastic film.

Movie maketh me snooze: Kingsman: The Golden Circle leaves a lot to be desired

BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON

Copy Chief

parison to the first one. Nothing really stands out like the church scene or climax of the first one, it’s all entertaining but nothing new.

It does have hints of the brains the first one had. This is primarily seen with Eggsy being in a committed relationship with the Swedish Princess (Hanna Alström) he met at the end of the first film. Being in the first film she came across as a throwaway girl much like James Bond would meet, it’s funny that Eggsy actually settled down with her and made a genuine relationship. Eggsy’s job conflicting with her is a very clever subversion of the womanizer trope that agents in the genre have. That’s about it though.

“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” is a fun time at the movies, just not a very memorable one. This is disappointing considering the quality of the first movie.

Despite a boring and meandering second act, people can definitely have fun with The Golden Circle, just don’t go in expecting a truly inventive take on the genre.

Sports 4

October 2017

thetalonohs.com

Page 17

Football holds head high toward end of season

By NIKKI HAZELETT

Sports Editor

Varsity

PHOTO BY KATIE CACCAVALE The Eagles prepare for their first home game against Mountain Pointe on Aug 18.

“For dive basically the ByTRAVIS ROBERTSON Copy Chief overall goal is to get a qualifying score to make it to Swim and dive have just State, and honestly I’d be ok begun their 2017 season with just making it to State with the hopes of sending I don’t really care what place more swimmers and divers I would get just making it to State. there is a huge accomplishSwim, in particular, emment,” Burgoon said. phasizes this goal while also Burgoon says a big focusing on improving their challenge is stepping out of win record. their comfort zones, but this “(Our goal is) definitely will ultimately pay off in the to win more and try and get end. our relays and a lot more “One of the biggest chalpeople into State this year,” lenges is pushing yourself said Kyle Chang, senior. to learn new dives because Chang says challenges of course you’re going to be they’ve faced involve getscared about it, you don’t ting their team to focus know how it’s going to go, up, and work harder while but once you try it you’ll get practicing. Despite these better scores,” Burgoon said. challenges, Chang still has Dive has focused on chalseen improvement with swim lenging themselves, making when compared to previous it to State, but more than years. anything simply enjoying “This season is going themselves as well. way better, we’re scoring “All of the divers are all way better against teams we really close, we’re all really would’ve lost against pregood friends and our coach vious years and our relays is a really good friend with have a much better chance us so it’s like a really big of getting into State,” group hanging out, but we’re Chang said. also doing dive at the same For dive, Jayla Burgoon, time,” Burgoon said. junior, says their ultimate goal is to make it to State regardless of how well they’ll perform there.

The school year hasn’t truly started until students begin filling the stands, accompanied by both Cheer and Pom to welcome the varsity football team to the field.

Even with a tough start to the season, the boys are more confident than ever that they are doing everything they can to make every game their best.

“It might not seem from the outside that we are working hard, but we really are,” said Ryan Langford, senior.

The Eagles started their season with a tough loss against Mountain Pointe, scoring 6-46. This didn’t break their spirit, as the team took home their first win against Tolleson the following week, 31-28.

“It’s been a little rough, I won’t lie to you. I think a majority of that is because our first three games were the top three teams in the states in order, with Mountain Pointe, Perry, and Chandler,” said Travis Prince, junior.

The team’s current record is 2-5. Their second win was against Millennium, where they scored 16-15.

With the end of the season nearing, players have

learned to deal with many situations on and off the field.

“The biggest thing I have learned is just hearing on the field because hearing down there with the band playing and the crowds is really difficult, and that was probably the hardest learning curve,” Prince said.

With this being their last year, the seniors have some final goals they would like to achieve.

“I want to help the team as much as I can, do what’s asked of me, and try and get more offers. Something I really want to do is play college football,” Ryan Langford said.

The team’s final home game will be against rivals Mountain Ridge on Oct. 27.

JV

The JV team started their season with a win against Cesar Chavez, scoring 24-6. The team’s current record is 2-5.

“I think the season’s been going pretty good. I know our record doesn’t reflect that, but we have improved definitely from last year,” said Nick Camacho, junior.

The team has been hard at work putting in numerous hours every week to prepare themselves for their games and accomplishing their goals.

“Personally I need to im-

prove on making reads on the field and working harder in practice. As a team we need to get better because we are not really where we need to be right now,” said Ethan Myers, junior.

The boys’ final home game was on Oct. 19 against Desert Mountain.

Freshmen

Following in the footsteps of their older teammates, the freshmen team have been hard at work putting in numerous hours during their morning practices.

“Sometimes the earliness can get to you, but it’s nice because you don’t have to worry about getting your practice done and then homework after school,“ said Tyler Clark.

The boys current record is 3-3-1 as they approach their last few games.

The team’s first win was against Mountain Pointe, scoring 7-6. Followed by two more wins against Perry and Millennium.

Their final home game will be against Mountain Ridge on Oct. 25. *Due to The Talon going to the printer, scores for the Mountain Ridge and Desert Mountain games can be found on aia365.com

Swim & dive splashes to victory

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Carter Cain, junior, swims through a lap at the swim meet with Liberty on October 12th at Sunrise Mountain High School.

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The Talon

October 2017

thetalonohs.com

Badminton smashes their final games with such beautiful and strong women has really made an impact on who I am as a person and has given me a family I wouldn’t ever want to change. Everyday is a gift for me if I can spend it with those girls,” said Rebekah Wucinich, junior.

The team’s last game was

on Oct. 12, which they had a loss, 2-7 against Mountain Ridge.

On Oct. 13, the team hosted a Badminton challenge game, where students were encouraged to come join the girls and verse them in a few games.

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Rebecca Felton, senior, gets ready to spike the birdie towards her opponent against Mountain Pointe on September 6.

By NIKKI HAZELETT

Sports Editor

This year’s badminton team is on a roll as they head into the end of their winning season.

“Our season has been amazing. We have won a lot more than we’ve lost and during a recent district tournament our Varsity girls killed it.

They played the best they have all season,” said Grace Neal, junior.

The girls first set of match-

es and wins was against Maryvale, ending the night with a clean sweep of 9-0.

“We won our district tournament and that’s the first we’ve won, that includes Ridge and Ridge is really good,” said Sidney Nguyen, senior.

Even with a season full of numerous wins, the team has still faced many challenges throughout the first few months of school. To help better themselves, the girls have been striving to give

more effort.

“Our coach really pushed us this year. She made us condition a lot more than last year because she wanted us to be more in shape than our opponents and move quicker around the court than them so we could kick some but,” Neal said.

With the competition put aside, the team of talented players have truly formed a unique bond with one another.

“Being able to practice

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Lauren Francis, sophomore, gets ready to serve the birdie against Moutain Pointe.

Girls volleyball sets on current standings

By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

Varsity

The varsity girls has an overall record of 11-4.

On September 5, they played against Westview at their home court, and won 3-0. They also won against Gilbert, Desert Vista, Horizon, Pinnacle, Desert Mountain, Kofa and Mountain Ridge.

“Our main goal is to win our region because we haven’t done so in so long and I know our team is capable of doing it,” said Alexa Spartz, senior.

On September 22, they played in a tournament of Champions at Red Mountain High School. They placed against 8 schools, and won six matches, 2-0.

“In the beginning of the season I tore my rotator cuff, so my goal was to overcome this injury and get back into the game,” said Taylor Anderson, junior.

According to Kelli Agnew, senior, one of the goals for the team was to be closer to each other so on the court they would communicate well and also make memories down the road, which they did achieve.

“The Ridge games are always quite eventful because we have more of a crowd on those nights and everybody is so hyped and it gets us pumped up and energetic during the play,” Spartz said.

JV

The JV team has a record of 8-2 so far. They have had 10 matches and won against Perry, Mountain Pointe,

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB Kaylee Byerly, senior, sets the ball for Kailey Trapp, junior, to spike the ball on their opponent against Horizon on September 25.

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB The team goes to congratulate each other after winning their first set against Horizon on Sept. 25, leading them with 1-0.

Westview, Gilbert, Mountain current record of 10-2. They Ridge, Horizon and Pinnacle. have won against Mountain “Some of my goals were to Pointe, Westview, Desert Visbe a good leader for the team. ta, Xavier Prep, Gilbert, and To help the freshmen adapt Mountain Ridge.

“My coach, Marcy, is absoto high school volleyball and lutely hilarious. She acres for freshmen year itself. Play as a every person on her team as team and not as an individual, to bring others up instead of down,” said Morgan Pacione, sophomore.

The team has been practicing every day after school for the whole season. They have their strengths, and they have their weaknesses that they are still working on.

“Skill wise, I would say my strengths are hitting and blocking because with my height and long arms, I can take up space for blocking and I can get up to hit,” said Emily Katz, junior.

Freshmen

The freshmen team has a

if they were her own child.

She personally is a great life coach for me because she always knows how to give me advice and helps me with anything I need,” said Elise Skeeters.

According to Karaline Soncrant, all that matters when they have their matches, is first to 25 in both sets.

“I feel pretty confident about winning, but it all depends on what team shows up. We have played these three teams before and won, but that doesn’t mean anything because you never know what teams are going to show up. ,” Soncrant said. *Due to The Talon going to the printer, the scores for the Horizon games can be found on aia365.com

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB Kelli Agnew, senior, and the team, motivates each other to get out onto the court and play their best for their Horizon match.

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

Cross country runs the fastest to state

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL (Left to right) Katherine Lamb,junior, and Ashley Kent,junior, run together during a meet.

October 2017

By KATIE CACCAVALE

Staff Writer

The OHS cross country team sprints into the hearts of many on campus who know about this dedicated team.

Cross country is a great way to stay fit and be active.

Jordan Gorosics, freshman, said running is her sport.

“It’s a way to stay in shape and create a bond with people you can call your family,” Gorosics said.

The boys took first place at an O’Connor Invitational on Oct. 7, although the girls team did not place, they cheered on their fellow teammates.

19

For the early morning runners, it is vital to be devoted to their sport in order to get their best results.

“It is dedication, you have to dedicate your whole life to it,” said Tommy Burke, senior.

The team spends numerous hours a week building up their stamina and pushing themselves to run further and faster.

“We run 40-50 miles a week,” Burke said, ”Workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

The boys took fourth place at an Woodbridge invitational in California on Sept. 16, girls did not place.

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL Cross Country girls run together during a meet on Oct. 4 at Stunk Creek Landfill.

Girls Golf putts their way into State

By KATIE CACCAVALE

Staff Writer

As golf comes to an end, we reflect at their season. But, the girls don’t stop putting all their hearts into the game.

Sports help people grow as a team and as a person in general. For Kaelah Clothier, sophomore, golf helped her in a tremendous way.

“It’s caused me to be a lot more mature,” Clothier said.

On September 21, the girls took third place against Chaparral and Horizon with a total of 178 strokes.

Many memories filter back up to the surface as the seaPHOTO COURTESY OF GIRLS GOLF son comes to an end but, Girls golf team wins the Eagle Invite and celebrates as a team. there are many more memories to be made.

“Being on the team many

memories were made,” Clothier said “From laughing on the bus and having fun on the course.”

On September 29, the team took second place against Pinnacle with the total of 185 strokes Then there is also the good times before an event. For Amy Bockerstette, senior, who is a very special person on the team, being on the golf team gave her many exciting times were made.

“I like riding on the bus with the girls,” Bockerstette said. “The girls are really fun.”

On October 20, the team scored second place with 181 strokes, against Xavier and Saint Mary’s Catholic.

As the season comes to an end, the seniors are having to say goodbye. Michelle Nguyen, senior and captain of the golf team, says a legacy is something she wants to leave behind.

“I am a strong advocate of keeping an open mind and pursuing firm vigilance,” Nguyen said, “I hope that players can take on my legacy.”

The girls played against Willow Canyon and Shadow Ridge, getting first place with 176 strokes. As of right now, girls golf is 13 place in state.

Boys Golf hits a birdie on the way to State

By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

The boys golf team is currently seventh in state out of 51 schools, with only four matches left in the season. So far, out of 11 matches, they have five in which they placed first in, and two matches where they placed in second.

Their first match was a Brophy Invitational, where out of 11 schools, they placed in seventh with a total of 629 strokes. Then on August 31, they played against Apollo, Cesar Chavez and Shadow Ridge and placed in first with a total of 146 strokes.

“This is our year, although we had a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, I know it will all be worth it in

the end,” said Caden Weber, senior.

On September 5, they placed in first with a total of 147 strokes against Apollo, Valley Vista and Westview. Then on Sept. 12, they placed first with a total of 145 strokes against Central, Independence and La Joya Community.

“We, as seniors, have been through a lot throughout all four years of playing on this team. We have gone through our best and worst times together during this and previous seasons,” said Beau Reutter, senior.

Then Sept. 25, which was a home game, they played against Mountain Ridge, Tolleson Union and Westview. They had a total of 154 strokes and placed in first.

Oct. 3, the team went

against Carl Hayden, Centennial and Maryvale, which they placed first in/ Then on Oct. 6 and 7, the team was invited to play against 24 schools at Mountain Ridge, which they placed third.

“Golf has really changed the way I act on the field and at school. There is respect and integrity all around and it really carries around personal life and affects character,” said Ethan Bishop, junior.

“

We, as seniors, have been through a lot”

-Beau Rutter PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB Jayce Candrea,senior, practices his swing for the next meet.